Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Amnio Help

Okay ..so I'm home from the MFM appointment. I have a very stubborn baby that laid on his tummy almost the entire time during the over 1 hour ultrasound. And yes ...I said HIS. Crazy. I can't believe it's a boy - still. I was somehow sure I would never have a son ...like ever. Monk was thrilled when they said he had relatively huge hands, long fingers, and an enormous penis. Everything that they could measure looked normal. No soft signs for Down's. Strangely enough - the baby is measuring on for the due dates from my LMP and NOT from when I thought I ovulated based on OPK's, progesterone levels, and basal temp. Dammit. I don't see how I would have missed ovulation earlier than that. All my charting be damned. So ....he said the risk in the end is still 1:148 - about 4 times higher than average at my age, but still less than 1%. His personal risk of complication from amnio is 1:1400. He wasn't able to see the cord insertion site at the placenta because the baby was laying on the placenta. He also wasn't able to see the right atrium of the heart and one vessel. Because of that, he suggested that I wait on the amnio and come back in a couple of days for a quickie u/s to see if the baby is in a different position. I have NO idea what to do. He said I didn't have to come back if I didn't want ...that although he couldn't see the insertion site he could see that it wasn't in a bad place. He doesn't feel like anything is wrong with the heart. Everything else looks fine. He said to only do it if it was something that I had to know. He has 10 children. His wife had 3 miscarriages. He's adopted 6 other children (crack babies and such that needed homes). One of his biological daughters has Downs. He did a really excellent job of describing the pros/cons of living with a Downs child. It was somehow reassuring and somehow terrifying. I guess what I wanted to hear was ....umm...there's a 0% chance ...but he can't tell me that. What to do? What would you do? Amnio? Not amnio? What will knowing change?

3 comments:

After all you've been through, are the results of the amnio going to change how you feel about your son? Unless you're planning to abort (I get sick just saying that), I would pass on the amnio and educate myself on raising a child with Downs and whatever else the amnio tests for.

so. i was going to say do another US to see if you can see things better. if you still can't....then see how you feel. you and i both know the risks of the amnio...and doesn't it seem like it would hurt? maybe that's just me. you have to weigh the pros of getting the info with the risks of the procedure. maybe you won't even have to think about this if you have another US? who knows.